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W-Two Worlds Episode 16 (Finale) – THE END.

It has been a crazy twisty ride, but we finally have reached the end of the W the webtoon as well as the end of our drama. Did we have a satisfying conclusion to our favorite dimension traveling OTP (One True Pairing)? Or were they tragically torn apart by a cruel multi-world fate? Come join Kmuse & Drama Geek as they say their final thoughts about the show and give their favorite drama a fond farewell recap.

Since this is the finale, and Drama Geek and I loved this drama so much, we decided to combine our W love and both recap the finale! So let’s channel our inner Mad Dog and get this party started!

A Moment of Random Plot Movement

Poor bestie is tortured in order to lure Kang Chul out of hiding and of course, it works. Bestie is saved and Kang Chul stays as a replacement. This is when Kang Chul is suddenly shot by Evil Prosecutor. Supposedly to end the story so Evil Prosecutor can go into the real world and do ………. stuff. This part of the plan was a bit fuzzy for me.

KMUSE: The only part of this that made sense was the whole, “either the antagonist or protagonist had to die to stop the story.” That made sense. Kang Chul walking in with no plan……..not so much. I kept expecting there to be some super smart plot to save everyone, but there wasn’t.

DRAMA GEEK:: So… the bad lets his hostage go before he checks to see if Kang Chul has the goods? Oh well, I guess it got Do Yoon out of there. I think Kang Chul was just over confidant that the newly created file would scare the prosecutor so much that he’d hightail it out of there. But Evil Prosecutor knowing there is another world out there threw a wrench in things. This is where I disagree with Kmuse. I think it makes total sense that the bad guy would want to get to the other world. For all he knows it’s full of all sorts of magical devices like the drawing tablet.

A Dramatic Death

Kang Chul escapes, but not before he is shot. Running out of gas and getting woozy, Kang Chul crawls to a bus stop and gives the location to Yeon Joo. Just as she arrives, Kang Chul smiles at her and passes out….. looking pretty dead. The fact that Yeon Joo is instantly transported back to the real world indicated that Kang Chul died and the story was over.

KMUSE: Visually, this whole scene was really well done. Loved how pretty the whole tragic moment played out. Realistically I am wondering why Kang Chul doesn’t use his phone to call an ambulance. You can love your wife after you stop the whole dying process.

DRAMA GEEK: He doesn’t call an ambulance because he’s still a fugitive. At least that’s my thought process. Though, death is worse than jail so… I digress. I agree that this scene was done wonderfully and made my heart pound hoping she’d get across to him before she was most certainly sucked away.

A Father’s Sacrifice

W the webtoon is over with Kang Chul’s supposed death, but as we have learned through many plot twists, what we see in the webtoon isn’t always what happened. Such is the case with Kang Chul’s death.

Thanks to Webtoon Dad getting free from his restraints and back on the tablet, the events turn out different than expected. First Webtoon Dad calls Evil Prosecutor. Taunting the bad guy about trying to be more than the character he created, Dad forces Prosecutor to shoot himself with a gun. This creates the perfect suicide and to top it all off the USB of Evil Prosecutor torturing Kang Chul is added to the suicide note. He then creates a note along with a picture of himself smiling.

Our last scene with Webtoon Dad happens when he watches Kang Chul slump to the ground and Yeon Joo rushing to his side. He smiles at his daughter one more time, whispers, “I love you, my daughter. Goodbye.” and then vanishes into nothing. Turns out that when a bad guy stops being the bad guy, he really does cease to exist. So instead of Kang Chul’s death, it is the death of both of the antagonists that finishes the webtoon, sending Yeon Joo back to her world.

KMUSE: I really liked that it was Webtoon Dad’s decision to end things the way he did. It was always unsettling to think of Kang Chul or Yeon Joo having to decide to kill off dad to save their marriage.

DRAMA GEEK:Agreed. And though being a lazy writer shouldn’t be punishable by manhwa death. It was still very touching that he sacrificed for his daughter.

KMUSE: I also liked how the writer explained why the bad guy’s deaths were not in the webtoon. Remember, that events focus on Kang Chul’s actions. Which means we wouldn’t be able to see all of Dad’s behind the scenes actions which resulted in his and Evil Prosecutors death.

DRAMA GEEK: This explanation fell in line with the rules we’ve seen so far, and logically explained the way the writer drew out the sorrow for Yeon Joo.

Happy Ever After

Kang Chul is rescued and taken to the hospital to remove the bullet. Figuring out what happened, he spends two more years in prison to finish out the story arc and then travels to the real world. Thankfully only a week has passed for Yeon Joo because I am not sure she would last a whole two years. As it is, Kang Chul finds her passed out at the bus stop he had supposedly died at.

Yeon Joo awakes to a khottie snuggling her in the hospital bed. Kang Chul tells her what had happened and that the story was officially over. He could now live as a real boy in the real world. We see our OTP watching the sunset, living their happy every after.

KMUSE: Aww. I know that it might not have been the big bang moment that I was expecting, but this ending made me happy. It gave me warm fuzzies and I was able to ignore the little things that annoyed me and just accept the show for what it was. A fun, trippy, ride with a happy ending.

DRAMA GEEK: The reunion was bitter sweet because of Dad. And the last scene kept that melancholy feel to it. They didn’t get to the end without some losses and sorrow, but they did get to the end to live as normal of a life as possible.

Final Thoughts

Mad Dog & Su Bong

KMUSE: I was sad that we didn’t get some kind of closure for these two characters. I loved them so much throughout the series that it just felt incomplete without a wrap-up. I still wish that we could have seen Su Bong hook up with So Hee. Also, I wanted Mad Dog to be at our OTP’s wedding or have some kind of self-realization about W being real. Oh well, I guess I should be happy with as much screen time as we got for the two characters. They will always be loved by this fangirl.

DRAMA GEEK: Can we get a spin off series with these two? I loved every scene they were together. Su Bong could step into the lead writer role and Mad Dog would just freak out at all his plot twists. I too wanted some kind of realization moment from Mad Dog, and him being at the wedding would have been too much.

OTP

KMUSE: I love these two characters. I have to admit that I loved the Pre-Amnesia OTP just a bit more than the Post Amnesia OTP. Kang Chul just lost some of that spark that made him larger than life the second time around. I understand that the writer was trying to show the differences about Kang Chul’s actions the first time and the second, but couldn’t it been a bit less of a personality change? I think it was this factor that made me love the first half of the drama more.

DRAMA GEEK: I think both characters needed a shot of personality by the last episode. They were so fun and had chemistry to burn through the first half of the series. But then he got amnesia and we suffered with her, which was great. But then she was killed off and did absolutely nothing for the rest of the show. She was a power house of a heroine and I loved that she actually got to do a lot of the hero-ing. But then it all kind of just fizzled. They are still one of my favorite OTPs and I love them to bits. I just hope they are able to get some of the fun and quirkiness back to their relationship after the curtain falls.

Finale & drama as a whole.

KMUSE: I liked the finale but didn’t love the finale. I really think the mix up in the episode airing (due to the Olympics) hurt the drama. Once that happened all the pacing was just off. It really didn’t help that we had to wait a whole week for that last episode.

On a whole, I enjoyed the episode and felt it was a satisfactory ending to a very complicated story. Sure there were tons of huge plot concepts that were not really addressed. But by the last few episodes, I understood that we were not going to get a satisfying reason for every little thing. I decided to just throw logic out the window and just enjoy what we were given. Is it shallow? Yes, but it made me happy so I am OK with that.

DRAMA GEEK:The concept of the drama was straight off a personal wish list I didn’t even know existed. The whole idea of your work coming to life and pretty much taking over was just so fascinating and scary at the same time. And the visuals were beyond amazing. I’d totally buy a hard copy of this drama if they were to make one. I loved the main characters and found them to be ones I will file away and remember always. I had hoped that some of the manhwa side characters would get more of a story, and the fact that they never actually were developed beyond what Dad first intended for them was sad. Because the ending was logical and happy this will go down as one of favorites but probably doesn’t make the top 5 because it lost that magic touch by the end. This will probably be the perfect marathon drama. It will be a wild ride that when it’s over you will feel exhausted but happy.

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0 thoughts on “W-Two Worlds Episode 16 (Finale) – THE END.”

I always loved the idea of a creation coming to life, I’m a Fan of the Frankenstein series & themes, Japanese robot dramas like Absolute Boyfriend & AI knows love, etc. one of my favorite movies is The Purple Rose of Cairo, where the hero steps off the screen. Those stories thrill me. So the fact that Kdrama did it with a Manhwa was awesome. I’m dying to see a kdrama remake of the 80’s movie Mannequin. I think it’d be the most fantastic rom-com!

W’s ending made sense, but I also felt a little underwhelmed. I think the first half of the show was definitely more powerful, and our OTP more fun. Post amnesia-rewrite was all about running around, hiding out and making plans over and over. And our heroine was so traumatized with everything she seemed numb. It sometimes got a little tedious. But at least we had a lot of showing with all the telling.

I’m just happy our OTP made it. And Kang Chul became a “Real Boy.” 🙂 I wish his friends could’ve joined him in the real world. Because left unanswered…does that parallel universe continue to exist without him? Does it fold in on itself and fade out of existence? That’d be horrible. How do the other characters continue to thrive without their reason for existence? That was to help Kang Chul. I guess that’s answered because So Hee carried on with her life. But it’s different still, because the Manhwa has officially ended.

I agree pretty much with all your thoughts. I really loved W and have enjoyed the ride immensely. At the end it was a bit messy and lost steam, but at least we got a happy ending 😀

I also feel that the characters will stay in my memory for a long time: Kang Chul, the perfect webtoon hero that came to life (with all LJS’ charm) and Yeon Yoo, his most enthusiastic fangirl and wife. Isn’t the perfect setup for us fangirls to dream of? Also Soo Bong and Mad Dog helped us to feel more part of the story, being our avatars, haha!! These are enough reasons for me to treasure W as one of my favorite dramas.

I understand why the ending seemed underwhelming and likeable but not loveable. The writer’s works use the romance as a bait in order to pull us into her not so romantic story lines. She did the exact same thing in Nine as well as in Queen In Hyun’s Man. She used mental illness in Nine and let’s face it, daddy “Dearest” was indeed a psychopath (DID, plus alcoholism, minus the “manhwa villain” identity arc). Her heroes are tired, mostly depressed people who look for redemption or a closure to their past; they’re persistent and ready to even sacrifice their own lives along the way.
Nevertheless, W’s finale was on a lighter note than Nine’s and definitely more reassuring than QIHM’s; we can believe this is what really happened after the final episode of the manhwa but can we believe in a phone call all way back to Joseon era? However, the writer’s PoV on how one’s personal hell can be the entertainment for millions was a bit disturbing. Was she making a social statement or was that unintentional? Or was “W” her own “The Truman Show”?

DramaGeek, you said; “They were so fun and had chemistry to burn through the first half of the series. But then he got amnesia and we suffered with her, which was great….. She was a power house of a heroine and I loved that she actually got to do a lot of the hero-ing… I just hope they are able to get some of the fun and quirkiness back to their relationship after the curtain falls.”
it’s a total joy to read recappers that can valued the characters for their worth, even with their oft times weakness. At least you are one of those who see YJ’s raw gem of a girl. Loved that you are so far the only one recapper that called her; “power-house of a heroine, he got a lot of hero-ing” to do. Exactly, start from Ep when she was drawn into his world by him pulling her in physically, she was already practicing her medical skill using pen-tube to fixed a collapsed lung by punctured a hole before Chul suffocate to death. Then ever since, she has been both using her medical know-how and her borne talent in drawing to save people and Chul. The Scene when she single handed orchestrated the Motel-hideout from Cops, drawing medical aids, vanishing doors/CCTV, camouflaged car… she shown that instead of whatever some bloggers keep saying about her wasting her life whining and missing Chul. She has never reveal any moments of griefs or weakness before her family members nor colleagues to angst them. She has high degree of self-controlled. While some fans couldn’t see beyond Lee Jongsuk’s past work with other famous actresses, and keep picking on Han Hyojoo for her acting and lack of chemistry with LJS. Its really picking bones within egg, between LJS and HHJ, their chemistry is in a league of their own already. Hope even if they are not real couple in life, you can see their BTS are full of genuine cares of skinships. Just hope they even if they are not One Real Pair, they still can be good friend to each other for real.

Kmuse shared: “I have to admit that I loved the Pre-Amnesia OTP just a bit more than the Post Amnesia OTP. Kang Chul just lost some of that spark that made him larger than life the second time around. I understand that the writer was trying to show the differences about Kang Chul’s actions the first time and the second, but couldn’t it been a bit less of a personality change?”
From what I knew thru the released full-script of Song Jaejung, there were originally 17ep, somewhere at mid-length around ep9 onwards, she discovered the pace of first half, certain things wasn’t explained well, I think I read she painstakingly wrote beyond 16eps to 17eps to explain certain vibes and emotional scenes between OTP, Yet MBC themselves decided to cut-scenes and stick to 16eps. LJS himself said, because some scenes was cut-off, and he has to down-act, meaning they play-downed his roles, given that he was written to be more mello, its just the actual Kangchul was written to be so, he can’t used his gifted acting skill (which is his illuminous affectionate/emotional scenes) to deliver thoughts. He has to used whatever mellow-lines or restrictions to deliver feels. I guess, its now, only the Writer Song, the two Leads themselves, and the Production Crew that knew how much OTP emotional interaction scenes were down-sized. Chul 1.0 and Chul2.0 is still the same Chul, its just that Chul 2.0 was robbed off the previous memories he has with Yeonjoo, even as he read the whole v.34, he can only visualized Chul1.0’s waves of emotions, until big time tragedies struck him when YJ was shot. That heart felt “I’m her husband”. Was actually the finally heart percing realization of how much he was swayed into her. It’s a total embraced of his Husband identity, just like the heartfelt way he confessed to dad, he chose her. To understand Chul2.0, we have to see between lines, writernim deprive us from ‘easy watching’-Chul. He morphed three changes to become the Chul of ep16. Pre-plunge into Han River was the “comic-hero” Chul 1.0. Post-Real World was the embracing New hope, new life, new love, newborn Chul 2.0. at a pin-fall of real danger of loosing all his loved ones, he chose to let go of choices and freewill and self. Becoming the Pre-Amnesia Chul, revolving back to Chul1.0 status. Then finally by ep 12, at the introduction of Comic 34 and loving JY again by YJ’s ‘death’, he finally matured and morphed into the Best Chul, Chul 3.0. Actually the way he treated her, thought less of skinship, but more of sensitiveness and respect to her feels. I loved it when he let her decide at ep16, what kind of happy ending she chose. This is in a way, surrendering his right to chose, so that she can have the final crucial decision to what kind of sad ending she shall have. Knowing its never happy ending, its just an ending they seek, just with lesser pain, or more pain. When One of the man in her life must be vanished, it can never be a happy ending. Its just an ending more befitting or worthy. All she ever asked was just a normal, ordinary happy life. At least by credits roll, Writernim Song while has not give us all the millions dollars answers to Questions. She gave us the most unexpected Ending, a mild, lame, boring “kiss in the sunset” ending. After all, its not just YJ who wants this kind of uneventful process to the future uncleared ending, its also what Chul deserved, a normal daily life. Its in our life too, that what is most important is not answered questions, but live worthily. LOVED both your unbiased recaps, will com back for other dramas.